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Suntory

If there's a sign that the soda industry is in trouble or lost its grip on reality, this is surely it. Up until recently, soda manufacturers have at least tacitly acknowledged that their carbonated swills aren't healthy options. Don't get me wrong, they haven't gone so far as to admit the potentially damaging effects of soda, but there have been no Nutella-esque marketing campaigns advocating the inclusion of a 16-ounce jug of sugary bubbles as part of a nutritionally balanced diet.

Up until recently.

Pepsi-Cola in Japan launches a fiber-infused iteration of its cola drink on Tuesday. According to Suntory, the sole distributor of Pepsi in Japan, the beverage contains "indigestible dextrin," more commonly known as dietary fiber. This magic ingredient, Suntory's website claims, helps reduce the amount of fat that's absorbed into the body, hence the tagline of the new drink as a "fat-blocking soda." Suntory also proffers that the drink quells the rise in triglycerides in the blood that normally follows a meal.

How do these claims sit with experts? Not well. According to Dr. Melina Jampolis, a physician nutrition specialist and CCNhealth expert, adding synthetic fibers to unhealthy foods and drink is like "putting lipstick on a pig." Which is to say that soda is still soda no matter what you pump into it.

"It's true that naturally occurring soluble fiber that's present in oats, barley, cruciferous vegetables and the stuff in seeds and the skin of apples does help block cholersterol absorption," says Jampolis, "but there's no publicly available evidence suggesting that synthetic fibers do this too." At least not in human beings. A 2006 Japanese study conducted on rats found that rats fed dextrin absorbed less fat than rats who weren't fed dextrin. But, there's nothing to say that what works on rodents, works on humans, even if the Japanese government is willing to bet on it.

Ironically though, even if dextrin doesn't fulfill the fat-blocking claims as promised, it can theoretically aid weight loss by helping to make us feel full. According to a 2001 study led by researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, adding dextrin to a beverage can increase levels of satiety and so reduce energy intake in subsequent meals by about 72 calories. Of course, if those subsequent meals consist of pizza and milkshakes, subtracting a measly 72 calories isn't going to have much of an impact on any waistline.

Intended to appeal particularly to young men eager to stay trim, Pepsi Special - just to clarify, the special is a nod to the salubrious and functional benefits of the drink, is contained within a voluptuous black and gold plastic bottle to convey the luxury and refinement that are inextricably linked with the ability to stave of weight gain by chugging cola.

Pepsi can't take credit though for unveiling the first soda with a weight-loss agenda. Kirin, known largely for its beers, debuted its own sugar-free, dextrin-containing cola in Japan earlier this year.

Like KirinMets Cola , Pepsi Special carries the government approved FOSHU symbol indicating that it contains an "ingredient with functions for health and [that it is] officially approved to claim its physiological effects on the human body." According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare website, a FOSHU product "is intended to be consumed for the maintenance / promotion of health or special health uses by people who wish to control health conditions, including blood pressure or blood cholesterol."

Still, the tongue-in-cheek ad on the Pepsi website featuring a businessman trying to chose between a woman in a pizza costume and another in a burger outfit, with the message being that you can have it all if you drink Pepsi Special, hints that even Pepsi is aware of the nonsense of its claims.